Threats Feed|Cobalt Gypsy|Last Updated 25/07/2024|AuthorCertfa Radar|Publish Date27/07/2017

Mia Ash: Anatomy of a cyber espionage persona, COBALT GYPSY lures middle eastern targets

  • Actor Motivations: Espionage
  • Attack Vectors: Spear Phishing
  • Attack Complexity: Medium
  • Threat Risk: Low Impact/High Probability

Threat Overview

The article "The Curious Case of Mia Ash" by SecureWorks details a sophisticated cyber espionage campaign. This campaign involved a fake online persona named Mia Ash, created by the threat group COBALT GYPSY, which is associated with Iranian cyber operations. Mia Ash was used to establish relationships with employees in targeted organizations, primarily in the Middle East and North Africa. The persona, active across various social media platforms, was instrumental in delivering malware through seemingly innocent interactions. The case underlines the increasing complexity of cyber threats where social engineering and fake identities are employed to breach security systems.

Detected Targets

TypeDescriptionConfidence
SectorConsulting
High
SectorInformation Technology
High
SectorAerospace
High
SectorHealthcare
High
SectorOil and Gas
High
RegionBangladesh
High
RegionIndia
High
RegionIran
High
RegionIraq
High
RegionIsrael
High
RegionSaudi Arabia
High
RegionUnited States
High